


I'm Glad it was You

by teacats



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, And Lots of It, Bisexual Steve Rogers, Fluff, Gay Bucky Barnes, High School AU, M/M, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, SO MUCH FLUFF, Stucky - Freeform, locked in a library au, stucky high school au, they're both huge dorks stab me in the face
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 19:54:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14817848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teacats/pseuds/teacats
Summary: "Buck, considering that it could have been anyone left behind with me today, I'm glad it was you.""Thanks, Stevie. I appreciate it."((after being locked in the school library overnight, high school!au Steve and Bucky grow closer than they had ever expected.))





	I'm Glad it was You

The door shut quietly behind Steve Rogers as he stepped into the school library. 

It was Tuesday after the last class, and Steve had stopped by the library to finish an essay for English class. He hung around the library a lot; it was peaceful and there weren't many people who habitually beat him up, which were two qualities he very much approved of. Besides, it beat just going home and doing nothing all afternoon.

Steve dropped his books on his usual table, in the back, near the emergency exit. A few other kids were scattered amongst the other tables. Most of them were from his grade. He recognized Tony Stark the tech genius, hovering by the computers. Nat Romanoff and her pal Barton looked like they were supposed to be studying but were cracking jokes and taking turns flicking Tic Tacs into each other's mouths instead. There were a few people he didn’t know, most of them goofing around or reading teen novels off the young adult shelves, and a kid he vaguely recalled to be James Barnes, one of the more popular guys in the school. James seemed to have fallen asleep on his Algebra homework.

Smirking to himself, Steve dropped into one of the creaking chairs by his table and pulled the half-written essay out of his bag.

 

»»————-　　————-«« 

 

Another thing Steve liked about libraries was how reality seemed to blur around him. Sometimes that happened in his room, too, but never as intensely as in the library. Time became almost meaningless. He blocked out chatter and background noises. He could hyperfocus on anything. It was really useful when it came to schoolwork.

"It's six o'clock. I'm locking up the library in a minute." The librarian announced. "Please gather your things and leave."

The other students milled out the door. Nat and Barton grabbed their empty revision pages, elbowed Tony in the neck, and the three of them left the library together. Steve swept his stuff into his bag and dropped it on the floor, heading to the closest bookshelf to quickly take a book he'd been meaning to check out for a while now. His fingers ran over books spines. Where was it, where was it? He had to find it now or he'd never manage to finish his Biology homework on time.

There! On the top shelf! Steve carefully stepped onto the bottom shelf, using it as a stool, and slid the book out of the dusty row. He tucked it under his arm and turned out of the row of bookshelves. "Ma'am, if I could just-"

He stopped short. The library was empty. The librarian's desk, the reading corner, the rows of books, the tables. He was the only one there.

"Hey!" he called.

Silence.

Pulse beginning to race, Steve jogged over to the door and pulled at the handle. It wouldn’t open. He jiggled it, praying the hinges were just stuck, but it was no use. The door was obviously shut tight.

He was locked in the library.

 

»»————-　　————-«« 

 

"DAMMIT!" Steve yelled, kicking at the door. "DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT!"

The door, obviously, didn’t budge. Instead, a voice came from somewhere near the tables: "Uh, what's going on?"

Steve spun around, taken by surprise. James Barnes was sitting on the floor beneath a table. The pattern of the carpet was pressed into his right cheek, and his hair was messy. Steve's heart skipped a beat, but he tried to keep it cool.

James rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hand. "What did I miss? Are you picking a fight with the door?"

"We're stuck in here." Steve said angrily. "The librarian locked us in."

"…You're kidding, right?"

"See for yourself."

James got up (a little woozily) and stumbled over to the door. He tried the handle as well. It didn’t cooperate with him any more than it had cooperated with Steve.

"Oh, shit." He mumbled. "Ohhhh, shit."

"Yeah." Steve agreed.

Leaning back against the door, James buried his head in his hands.

"Alright, let me think." He said, his voice muffled. "Just… alright. The door's locked. Emergency exit?"

"Locked too." Steve replied. "The librarian keeps it shut because last year somebody got in and stole a whole bunch of computers."

"Why do you- never mind, doesn’t matter. Okay. Windows?"

"Wire grating. From both sides, I think. We're practically facing the football field."

"Shit." James repeated.

"Look, do you have your phone on you?"

"Yes! Yes I do!" James leapt to his feet, dashed across the library and slid onto the carpet right next to his beaten up backpack. He stuck his hand inside, fished around, pulled out a cellphone and said in an extremely disappointing deadpan: "Aaaaand it's dead."

"Well, my phone is currently broken at home, so we're kind of screwed." Steve groaned, banging his head on the door.

"Pretty much."

"It's not that bad. We only need to survive for one night."

"I guess." James said. "I'm Bucky, by the way."

Steve blinked. "I thought your name was James."

"It is. Bucky's more of a nickname." Bucky patted the carpet beside him. "Come, sit down. We might as well get to know each other. How did you know my name?"

"Everyone knows you." Steve said, settling by a table leg right in front of Bucky.

"Oh." A pause. "Well, I know who you are, too, so that makes us even."

"You do?"

Bucky grinned. "Yeah. Steve Rogers, right? You're the dude who keeps picking fights with Allers and Michaelson. You're a pretty impressive guy, you know? Not everybody would have the guts to stand up to them."

"Well, those guts tend to get me into trouble."

Snorting, Bucky nudged Steve's knee with his foot.

"I like you." He said. "You've got a sense of humor."

"And a fame that precedes me." Steve added.

"Oh, absolutely."

"Shame, though. I could be famous for so many other things."

"Like what?"

"I'm an excellent cook."

"You're kidding."

"Of course I am. I can't even boil an egg, to be honest."

"Well, I can cook, so if we had a fridge and a stove here right now we could have a great dinner."

It was Steve's turn to snort. "I wish. And I also wish this place had central heating."

"God, yes. It's like a freezer in here."

A pause.

"Hey, why were you under the table when the librarian left? Were you hiding or something?"

"What? No, no. I kinda. Uh. Fell asleep. And then possibly slid off the chair and landed on the floor. And somehow nobody noticed me napping under the table, which is both annoying because now I'm trapped in here but also gratifying because nobody saw me snoring on the carpet."

Steve laughed again.

A pause.

"Let's watch a movie." Bucky said.

Steve raised his eyebrows. "What movie?"

"I don't know. Titanic. Star Wars. A classic in the world of cinema."

They ended up crowding two chairs in front of one of the computers and watching Beauty and the Beast, Bucky mouthing the words to all the songs and making grandiose hand movements. He feigned extreme shock during all the dramatic moments, letting out loud gasping noises and whispering "Steve! Did you see that?!"

"Do you know this entire movie by heart?" Steve teased, elbowing him.

"Yeah, obviously. It was my favorite when I was a kid. I even know all the dance moves from the ball scene. Look." He grabbed Steve by the hands and hauled him to the middle of the room, swaying back and forth and humming the song under his breath. "Now they twirl."

Still laughing, Steve pulled away. "Twirling makes me dizzy. Sorry, Buck."

Truthfully, it wasn’t the dancing that made him dizzy, but Bucky didn’t need to know that.

"Hey, Buck is a pretty nice nickname." Bucky said, flopping down on the floor. "I should give you one too. Uh. How about… Stevie?"

"Ridiculously affectionate. I like it." Steve said. He sat down beside him.

"Slow down there, boy. We're not on the ridiculously affectionate level yet."

"You came up with the nickname."

"Fair point."

A pause.

"Seriously though, are we sure there isn't a kitchen here? I am starving." sighing, Steve threw himself onto his back.

"Why would there be a kitchen in the library?" Bucky replied. "Don't sweat it. I think I have some Doritos in my back."

"You think?"

"I'll check." He rummaged around in his back and came up with a large, half-squashed purple bag of spicy-sweet chips.

"Gross." Steve said, accepting a few Doritos as Bucky popped the bag open. "Spicy and sweet is the honestly the worst flavor combination."

"Objection. It's the absolute best. I mean, it's definitely up there on my list of most incredible things in creation."

"Along with what?"

"Chicken nuggets." Bucky thought for a bit, shoveling chips in his mouth. "Uh, giraffes. Rocky Road ice cream. Really tall trees. Specific kinds of boys. Fuzzy blankets."

Steve stopped mid-chew. "…Boys?"

"Oh, yeah. Some of them."

"You're gay."

"Yeah. Surprise, I guess." Though he seemed to be trying to hide it, Steve could tell Bucky was a bit uncomfortable.

"There's nothing wrong with that." He said quickly. "I'm not weird with it or anything. I'm, uh, also kind of into guys."

Bucky's face split into a wide smile. "Dude! Does this mean two members of this school's very miniscule LGBT community are somehow locked together in a library overnight?"

"That sounds like the beginning of a porn movie."

"Oh god, it really does."

They both cracked up.

By then it was around eight PM (Steve checked on a computer). The two squandered another hour messing around, digging through their bags to find more food (half a sat-on salami sandwich, a melted Hershey's bar, another bag of chips), playing music really loudly on the computers, watching a few episodes of the Simpsons. They spent the next hour sprawled across chairs or tables or the floor, reading.

"Can you read out loud to me?" Bucky asked Steve, lying in his back on the floor. "I wanna hear a story but I'm not managing to focus enough to actually read."

"You're a dork." Steve informed him, perched on a chair with his legs on a table.

"A cute dork."

"If you say so." Clearing his throat, Steve flipped to the beginning of his book and started reading it out loud: "A Collection of the Works of Edgar Allan Poe. Story number one: The Cask of Amontillado. 'The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utter to a threat…'"

He had read the entire story and was halfway through the second when Bucky sat up and interrupted him. "Stevie, you have a lovely voice and Poe is a great writer, but I am so goddamn tired right now for no good reason that I need you to come and hold a conversation with me so I don't fall asleep in the next three seconds."

"Why do you need to stay awake, exactly?" Steve raised an eyebrow, shutting the book and leaning forwards.

"Because I need to be awake when the librarian unlocks this door tomorrow morning. As in, 'up all night' awake. So I can stare at her reproachfully and if I'm lucky also scare the hell out of her when she comes in."

Laughing, Steve slid out of his chair and settled on the floor. "You're hopeless, Buck."

"Maybe so, Stevie. Maybe so."

They didn’t talk, which was exactly the opposite of what Bucky had demanded, but they both seemed okay with it.

They were quiet for a long time.

"Okay, I'm really cold." Bucky said finally. "Like, really cold. As in, go-back-in-time-and-beat-myself-up-to-steal-my-own-coat cold."

"Well, time travel is out of the picture for now, and I left my jacket in the classroom." Steve groaned, hitting himself in the forehead with an open palm.

Bucky stuck out his tongue. "I left mine in the car. Let's huddle for warmth."

"…What?"

"You know, like penguins do. To share and preserve body heat."

"You're insane."

"Rude." Bucky scooted closer until his shoulder touched Steve's. "You'll see who'll seem insane after a few seconds of good ol' fashioned penguin cuddling."

"Still you?"

Ignoring him, Bucky wrapped his left arm around Steve and drew the smaller boy towards him.

Steve blinked in shock for a few moments. "Buck, this is a hug."

"No. this is a hug." Bucky tugged Steve against his chest, holding him close with both arms. Flushed, his heart racing, Steve was unable to reply for a few seconds.

"I can’t breathe." He finally mumbled, because Bucky's shirt was in his face and because his stomach had dissolved into manic butterflies.

Bucky pulled away. "I-I'm sorry. Was that okay? Do you not like to be touched?"

"No, no. You're… that was fine. I got a bit, uh, flustered." Steve cleared his throat, trying his best not to die of extreme embarrassment.

"That's kinda cute." Bucky said. "Stevie, you're blushing."

"Oh, man." This was it. He was going to crawl under a bookshelf and just wither away. That sounded incredibly promising.

"Come on. I'm the only other person in here and I am definitely not judging you."

Silence as Steve tried to cough the humiliation out of his system.

"I'm still cold. Can we try the huddling again? No actual hugging. I promise."

Despite his still-strong urge to scramble away and die in a hole, Steve accepted Bucky's extended arm and nestled up against his side again.

"You're warm." He said, his voice cracking slightly.

"Yeah, well." Bucky shrugged. Steve could feel him moving. "You're heating me up."

"Unlikely."

"If you say so."

Silence.

"Buck, considering that it could have been anyone left behind with me today, I'm glad it was you."

"Thanks, Stevie. I appreciate it."

Somehow, sometime after that, both boys drifted off.

 

»»————-　　————-««

 

"Holy-"'

The shout of shock and excitement woke Steve up, and he spent a long moment groggily trying to remember where he was. The surface beneath him was much itchier and harder than his bed. Something warm and firm was poking his side, another similarly-sized object thrown over his chest. Bright light was blinding him.

He sat up, bleary and half-asleep, squinting. He was sprawled on a carpet- the library carpet – he remembered now. He and Bucky must have fallen asleep at some point yesterday night. But something seemed off, somehow. The light in his face was harsh and artificial, like that of a flashlight, while it was pitch black outside the library windows. It was still night.

"Oh my god, look at them." A second voice snickered.

"Shut up." Snapped a third.

Steve rubbed his eyes. "Uh, could… could you move that light please? Also, who is this? What's going on?"

Somebody hissed something Steve couldn't make out. The third voice, a girl's voice, rose above the others again: "Oh, for Christ's sake!"

The flashlight beam shifted from his face to the other side of the room, lighting up the far wall. Somebody jogged towards the door, leaned out and hollered: "They're here, Ma'am!"

A light flicked on. Two kids stood in front of Steve, all bundled up in jackets and looking very alert. One boy- Shane Beecher –and Nat Romanoff, her bright red hair sticking up around her head like a bird's ruffled feathers. A third kid, Bryan Hale, was coming from the hallway- he had been the one to call for the teacher. He was holding a large flashlight, now turned off, and had a huge grin spread across his face.

"Rogers." He said. "You two are absolutely sick."

Blinking, Steve tried to understand whether he meant that in a good way or in a bad way. Judging by Nat's face, he guessed it was the latter.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"Two AM." She said.

"I mean, Jesus Christ." Bryan was still talking. "I knew Barnes was a bit of a homo, but that's just disgusting."

Steve's stomach sunk. He turned his head, slowly, already knowing what to expect.

Bucky was lying peacefully right behind him, his chest rising and falling in steady breaths. One of his arms had been pinned beneath Steve as the two had slept, and the other was thrown over Steve's front. Their legs were pressed together. It was obvious that the two had fallen asleep very close together.

Steve's face went bright red.

Shane leaned forwards. "Hey, Barnes. Wake up, sleepyhead."

Bucky stirred slowly, mumbling softly as he did. "…Beecher, is that you?"

"Yeah."

"Please don't let your ugly face be the first thing I see when I open my eyes."

"Nah, I think that'd be your boyfriend."

As if snapping to attention, Bucky sat up and yawned widely. "Oh. Hey, Stevie. Sleep well?"

Steve nodded, mortified but determined to play it cool. "Uh. Yeah."

"Did you just call him Stevie?" Bryan crowed.

"No, I called him Steve. Get your ears cleaned out, Hale, would you?"

"You guys were just spooning." Bryan said. "Honestly, Barnes, I didn’t think you could get any gayer, but I was wrong."

"Hale, you better shut your damn mouth." Nat hissed.

"I'm not gay." Bucky lied smoothly. "And we weren’t spooning, Hale, we were preserving body heat so we wouldn’t freeze to death in a big room with no heating or blankets on a winter night. God, your masculinity is so fragile it's ridiculous. If it were you instead of Steve in this situation we'd both be dead."

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Steve said quickly, trying to change the subject before Bryan tried to punch Bucky in the face.

Nat raised her eyebrows. "Looking for you. Duh."

"Your mom made a huge fuss, Rogers." Shane said. "She called the police after, like, three or four hours, but they said since you were a teen boy you were probably out partying and they couldn’t help. And then your mom panicked because obviously you wouldn’t be at any party and she called the school and asked who'd seen you last and whether anybody knew where you were."

"Then the principal called me." Nat interrupted. "He knows we're friendly, I guess. I said I saw you at the library earlier in the afternoon and he called the librarian. She said there was no chance you were still in there, but we came to check anyway after a while because you weren’t in any other places we'd checked."

"And here you are, spooning." Bryan said.

Bucky sighed and stood up, stretching his whole body.

"Well," he said, "That was a great story. And now if you don’t mind I'm going to be heading home now. I need to sleep on something that isn’t carpet."

He was hiding something, Steve knew. He was hurt by the fact that his own parents hadn't been worried at all. Somehow this made Steve feel worse about this whole ordeal. He stood up, too, grabbing his backpack and mumbling a quiet thank you to Nat as the five of them left the room.

The rest of the night was a blur- the librarian lecturing them on listening to teachers and then apologizing for accidentally locking them in for eight hours; Bryan and Shane shooting him dirty looks as they exited the school into the freezing, moonlit winter night; Nat squeezing his shoulder encouragingly before disappearing into the dark street; The crisp feel of fresh air on his face –except for one thing.

As Steve waved goodbye to the librarian and turned to walk the familiar way home, Bucky grabbed his hand and started walking beside him, matching his pace.

"That was one hell of a night, huh?" he asked, smiling.

"Yeah." Steve agreed, trying not to think about Bucky's hand in his. "Hold on, don't you live in the other direction?"

"I can take the longer way."

"Okay."

They walked in silence until a few houses away from Steve's, when Bucky suddenly stopped and turned to face Steve.

"I don’t want to intrude on you and your mom." He said, not a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "So I'll say goodbye here."

Steve's chest ached a bit. "Oh. Right. Goodnight, then. See you tomorrow."

Tomorrow. They'd see eachother again tomorrow. Would things change? Would they stay the same? Did Bucky holding his hand and hugging him and coming out to him mean anything? Did he want it to?

Bucky poked his cheek. "You're blushing again."

"You said it was cute, though."

"Oh, it absolutely is."

There was silence for a moment, and then Bucky let out a soft sight and pulled Steve behind a lamppost and kissed him. Steve kissed back. His heart thudded.

"You know, this pole isn’t actually hiding us from anybody." He murmured.

"I wasn’t planning it to." Bucky murmured back. "I was building on it to support me in case my legs gave out."

Steve laughed. "You're a dork."

"Maybe so."

They broke apart, and Bucky grinned as he squished Steve into a hug. "Tomorrow's gonna be pretty weird, huh?"

"I'd say." Steve ducked his head, knowing his face was probably on fire by now, and gave Bucky's shoulder a little squeeze. "Sorry to ruin the moment but I really think I need to get home."

"Of course. Tell your mom goodnight from me."

"You're a huge flirt, you know that?" He gave Bucky a playful shove, then waved a small goodbye and started walking away.

"Bye, Stevie!" Bucky's voice called from behind him. "Did I mention you have a nice butt?"

Steve laughed, freely and joyfully. "See you tomorrow, Buck."

"See you tomorrow!"

Each boy walked away into the night.

**Author's Note:**

> so this is probaby the first fanfic i've ever written for the mcu! steve seems a bit ooc to me but i'm actually not too displeased with this one so,,,, that's good, i guess!  
> the whole thing is about 12.5 pages long sorry about that   
> thanks for reading!!


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